Moving In and Moving On
by rachel-rage
Summary: I promised to post this little fic about Kolly moving in together like, three weeks ago when I first started working on it, and I just finished it! Honestly, it's more of a compression of my headcanons about the three or so years following the episode than an actual story, but I hope you'll like it anyway!


Holly insists that their new flat have a view of the sea.

Of the three they found, it was the most expensive, and Karen, being without a source of income, tries to persuade Holly that they don't need the view.

But Holly remembers; Karen had loved the view out of her flat. They had sat together, limbs tangled comfortably in her loveseat, staring out at the sea. And Karen had said, in art club, that she loved it, that it was calm and peaceful. And in the aftermath of leaving Margate, that's what Holly wants.

It takes three weeks after they walk out of class to leave town. Karen needs it to finish out Year 11 and take her GCSE exams, and they have to search for their new flat and make plans. But somehow, even though they can't leave Holly's flat without being thrown dirty looks, and they're spending more time together than they ever have before, they only grow closer. They laugh and joke now, because their time together isn't shaded by secrecy.

Since Holly left her job with no notice and couldn't care less about the bridges she burns behind her, they no longer have to hide. But she insists that Karen talk with her father. Holly promises her that no matter what her father says, Holly won't leave without her. She swears.

Karen returns from speaking with him with a bag of her clothes, red eyes, and a slap mark across her cheek. After Lorraine, he has no patience for such a relationship. Holly understands, truly, for the first time. For the first time, she sees herself and Karen from the eyes of the people that don't understand them, and she knows it's going to be hard.

And she pulls Karen inside, into her arms and suddenly, it doesn't matter how hard it's going to be.

They find their flat in Folkestone, a seaside town like Margate but far enough away that their lives should remain their own. After the summer holiday, Karen enrolls in year 12 in the public school in town, and Holly finds a job teaching at an all girls' school. They're slightly more polite, if more catty, and with Karen at home every evening, Holly doesn't really hesitate with her students anymore. Karen gives her strength.

Their flat is small; on only one salary and with Holly insisting on a view, they can't afford much square footage. But it's theirs, and every day they live in it, it becomes theirs even more. Books are absolutely everywhere, piled onto counters and on windowsills. Karen's paintings cover the wall, and their shared art supplies lie haphazardly around the old wooden easel that looks out over the water.

Karen with her hair down, painting, with the sunlight shining on her face, is the most beautiful thing Holly has ever seen. Her nose wrinkles just slightly when she concentrates, and when she moves just right, her eyelashes catch the sun and she seems to glow. When she works, her materials expand around her and Holly has to watch where she walks, but she doesn't mind. Usually, Karen will work contentedly until she catches Holly looking at her. She'll look up and smile, her lips quirking up into a shy grin.

Their days are spent like this; they are slightly antisocial in their new town because all they need is each other. Karen goes to school and does fine, but doesn't do anything to stand out, and Holly is the same at work. It's second nature for both of them to be a little guarded. They spend all the rest of the their time together; they walk on the cliffs that overlook the water, and lay in bed all day on Sundays, reading the paper and drinking tea while their hands trace their love onto each others' bodies.

Somehow, despite how rough their start was, life goes on. They fight, of course, like anybody would. Holly leaves her clothes everywhere and Karen leaves empty containers of food in the fridge, and they almost never agree on what to watch on TV. Sometimes they even have real fights- Karen gets jealous quite easily, and Holly often worries that she's stealing Karen's youth right out from under her. But Holly sees Karen's possessiveness as endearing and appreciates it, and Karen always assures Holly that there's nowhere she'd rather be and no one she'd rather be with. They love each other, deeply, and their love only grows with time.

Time passes, and as Karen nears eighteen, they prep together for her A-levels. Holly helps her out, but they never speak about what will happen when Karen passes. They haven't talked about the future; they rarely do. It's not that it's a sore subject for them, it's just that with their age difference, another rare conversation topic, anything they plan has to be flexible enough for them both. Karen would love to sacrifice going to university and just get a job, but of course Holly won't allow it.

When Karen catches Holly perusing the course list of the arts university in town, with a napkin covered in calculations about tuition and Karen's name, her eyes smart and she has to turn away. She had thought about university, of course, before Holly, but after, she was all that mattered.

When Karen passes her A-levels with flying colors, they go out to celebrate. They dress up in smart clothes and drink champagne, filled with joy and just the slightest twinge and anticipation of what comes next. But all the worrying turns out to be for naught, because in the end, they both want the same thing; just each other, happy.

In a rare instance of secret keeping between the two, they surprise each other one morning early into Karen's summer holiday. Karen wakes up to a bed empty but for a brochure at the local arts university, but she gets hers back when she gives Holly an itinerary for the perfect gap year tour of the world over tea.

They spend a year backpacking- they go to the continent, of course, but much of their time they spend in Asia, marveling at ancient temples and volunteering in Third World countries. To Holly, Karen is almost never as beautiful as when her hair is tied up in a ruby headband they picked up in Dubai, with a hiking backpack on and thumbing through a map with a confused look on her face.

When they return and Karen enrolls in uni, all it takes is one sundrenched afternoon, cozied up in their seaside flat, for Holly to truly appreciate how far they've come. From scandal to pure, complete, uncomplicated bliss.


End file.
